Title: Warrior Systems Technologies - Biomechanics
Sponsor: United States Department of Defense (DOD)
Department of the Army
U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC)

Biomechanical tools and data are currently being developed to inform the
design of boots and load carriage gear that reduce injuries, delay fatigue
and enhance dismounted soldier mobility.There is a need for detailed
information on the forces acting on the soldier's musculoskeletal system as
well as how their gait, range of motion, rates of movement, energy
expenditure, and stamina are affected by their load, its distribution on
the body, the terrain and grade of the environment, and obstacles presented
by the environment, such as in urban terrain.

A review of the existing data and models has revealed the following areas
of continuing scientific and technical interest:
1. Information on the manner in which factors suchas total weight and
centers of mass of jumpersand their equipment, parachute design, landing
velocity, body position, and environmental variables, including terrain and
lighting levels, affect paratroopers' performance and the risk of injuries
in a jump.
2.As the concept of physical fightability emerge as critical system
criteria for acquisition it is essential to develop a suite of
biomechanical tools to assess the physical fightability of soldier systems
of dismounted troops in a broad range of environments.
3. Determine to what degree the biomechanical measures of fatigue may be
used to predict
performance failure of critical soldier tasks.
4. Develop predictive fatigue algorithms and integrate them with
physiological monitoring systems to provide commanders with real time
information on the performance capabilities of their soldiers.
5. Investigate the effects of acute and chronic head borne weight on
soldier performance, fatigue, and the incidence of injuries.
6. Develop physics based data and analytic models or virtual prototyping
tools of human locomotion and combat environment individual movement
techniques (IMTs) to provide design guidance for individual soldier equipment.